Tag: Holmes Beach

HOLMES BEACH – It took some discussion, but city commissioners voted to allow the Holmes Beach Police Department to add another officer to its ranks.

Commissioners voted three to two in favor of releasing funds earmarked in the budget for the new hire with Commissioners Kim Rash and Jayne Christenson voting no. Police Chief Bill Tokajer said that he’s vetted someone to potentially take the position but that, as of the Oct. 12 meeting, no one had been hired for the position since funding for it was pending commission approval.

The additional officer will bring the total of officers in the HBPD, including Tokajer, to 18, with 14 of those being patrol officers. By hiring the new officer, Tokajer said it brings the department up to a good staffing level and allows Lt. Brian Hall to take the second in command role that was eliminated to put more officers on patrol when Tokajer took over as chief nine years ago.

While Tokajer said the new hire is a part of his succession planning strategy, that strategy is to put a solid structure in place prior to his eventual retirement, not determine who the next chief of police will be in Holmes Beach.

Commissioner Jim Kihm said during the discussion that he’s concerned about Hall being pegged as Tokajer’s successor since he is related to Mayor Judy Titsworth. Kihm said he felt that relationship would be a conflict of interest in the city’s government structure. Titsworth said that she’s very proud of Hall and the career that he’s built over the years serving in the HBPD. Tokajer added that no one is guaranteed his job when he decides to retire, which he doesn’t plan to do any time soon.

While the mayor is an elected position serving a two-year term, the police chief is a city employee whose hiring is voted on by commissioners.

In her comments, Christenson said that she supports the HBPD and its officers but believes that an outside consultant should be hired to determine if the department needs another officer and, if so, Manatee County officials should be responsible for paying for that person rather than the city’s residents, due to the influx of tourism to Holmes Beach. Currently, Manatee County gives the HBPD $50,000 per year to patrol the county-owned beaches in Holmes Beach. Tokajer said he and Titsworth continue to work to get that amount raised.

Kihm added that he agrees the amount given to Holmes Beach for police by the county should be higher due to the public safety issues surrounding increased tourism to the Island.

Rash said that while he fully supports the police department, he also agrees that the county needs to increase what they’re giving to the department on an annual basis.

“Manatee County is profiting off of the Island and needs to step up to the bar,” he said. “The residents shouldn’t have to carry the burden for all of Manatee County’s wants.”

Commissioner Carol Soustek said that she voted in favor of hiring a new officer because she wants to stay ahead of enforcement in Holmes Beach. She added that she believes adequate staffing in the HBPD is essential to keeping crime rates low in the city.

Tokajer said in 2020, HBPD officers made 379 arrests, a significantly higher number than those made by Bradenton Beach and Longboat Key police officers.

HBPD Officer Michael VanHorn addressed commissioners during public comment, relaying some of the difficulties that the city’s police force faces on a regular basis, including a large number of calls that require multiple officers to respond, particularly if there is an aggressive suspect, such as in drug, intoxication and gun-related incident responses. He relayed examples of multiple incidents which occurred on one recent weekend where more than one officer was needed to respond to a call due to a violent suspect. In each instance, VanHorn said multiple officers were needed to subdue the suspect with minimal force and to try to prevent injury to their fellow officers.

The minimum shift staff for the HBPD includes two patrol officers, a sergeant and a mid-shift officer to ease the workload during shift change hours.

Related coverage

 

Final budget hearing gets heated

 

Rash triumphs in state investigation

HOLMES BEACH – City leaders hit a snag during the final hearing for the 2021-22 fiscal year budget when two commissioners voted against approving the proposed budget.

When commissioners met on Sept. 28 for the final public hearing of the budget, Commissioners Jayne Christenson and Kim Rash voted against adopting the proposed budget, causing an issue requiring a quick amendment to get the budget passed before the new fiscal year began Oct. 1.

Rash, who voted against the budget in the first hearing earlier in September, reiterated his position that he and some of the Holmes Beach residents he’s spoken to feel that the city’s budget has ballooned out of control and is too large for the size of the city.

During discussion, Christenson said she was voting against the budget because she didn’t support the proposed budget for the Holmes Beach Police Department, which includes funds to support the hiring of a new officer and all of the equipment that goes along with a new hire.

A new hire in the department would bring the total number of sworn officers, including Chief Bill Tokajer, to 18. Tokajer had previously stated that hiring a new officer is essential to policing the city and its growing number of visitors along with planning for the future of the department. Since Tokajer came on board nine years ago, there hasn’t been a deputy chief in the department, which would be standard and something that he wants to remedy as he begins to look toward retirement.

Christenson said she wasn’t in favor of approving the budget as presented and made a motion to exclude the funding for a new officer that ultimately failed to win approval from the majority of her fellow commissioners. When it came time to vote for the budget as presented, Christenson and Rash voted against it, causing the measure to fail for not receiving a supermajority vote of a minimum of four to one.

The police department budget represents $4,200,339 of the total $22,226,872 budget, including carryover and reserves.

During discussion, Tokajer was given the opportunity to reply to the concerns Christenson raised about the police department budget. He said that in his opinion, the department with 18 sworn officers including himself, one detective and a school resource officer for Anna Maria Elementary School, is adequately staffed for the number of residents in Holmes Beach, not the number of visitors the city hosts, which his officers are tasked with policing. Typically, he said there is one sergeant and two officers on each shift with a mid-shift officer working afternoons during shift change.

“This budget has been discussed between department heads and individual commissioners since May of this year,” Tokajer said. “To drop this bomb at the final hour is wrong and a slap in the face to the entire department. This has also put our city treasurer who has been open and transparent and readily available to all commissioners in a challenging position as revenue is at risk if budget deadlines are not met. I wouldn’t have brought this forth this year if I didn’t feel succession planning was necessary. Prior to my arrival, there was a deputy chief in the lieutenant position. I gave up this position to put more boots on the ground and to develop my team.”

“I would hope that after nine years as your chief of police, the professionalism your officers show every day and the significant reduction in crime we have shown that I would have the unconditional support of the entire commission. I know that I have the support of the community at large,” Tokajer continued. He added that he had hosted one-on-one meetings with commissioners throughout the budget process and had not received any negative feedback concerning the hiring of a new officer. Tokajer went on to say that if the funding for a new hire was not approved by commissioners that the department’s overtime budget would have to be adjusted.

“For this to happen at the last minute is not responsible governing,” he concluded.

Christenson said that she felt Tokajer’s comments were “bullying” and that he was attempting to use intimidation to get what he wants, in this case, funds for a new officer. She also said that she didn’t see how her decision to not vote for the budget as presented was “dropping a bomb” because Tokajer had given a prepared statement on the matter.

Mayor Judy Titsworth spoke up and said that she had been alerted to Christenson’s objections just before the meeting by city Treasurer Lori Hill and had told Tokajer, to allow him approximately 45 minutes to come up with a response. Hill and Christenson had met earlier in the day to discuss the commissioner’s concerns over the budget.

Christenson added that if the department needs additional officers or if more policing is needed that it shouldn’t be on the residents of Holmes Beach to supply funding through taxes for that, that Manatee County leaders should contribute more funding to the department or help out with policing.

When Commissioners Terry Schaefer, Carol Soustek and Jim Kihm all agreed that they supported the budget as-is with the police budget as presented, Christenson amended her suggested amendment for the budget to allow the police budget to remain intact but to require Tokajer to receive commission approval before being able to hire a new officer.

That amendment passed and then the budget with the amendment passed with unanimous support from commissioners.

For Tokajer to hire a new officer for the HBPD, he will need the support of three of the five Holmes Beach city commissioners, or a simple majority.

Related coverage

 

Holmes Beach leaders start 2021-22 budget talks